Our Homeschool Journey: November 2019

I must admit this has been a journey of learning *for how I teach* over the last (almost) three years.
Before then it was pretty easy. I did a basic preschool plan for our toddlers and since our older two girls with Down syndrome were newly adopted we also included them in the preschool program since they were both new to the English language.
It worked.
Before we even adopted our four kids with Down syndrome we had our four older children who were good students and were able to absorb things easily so homeschooling them was not a challenge. Some of them choose the public school route and that worked out ok too. All in all they did not have any trouble learning or understanding things that they saw/heard/watched. They did not have behavioral issues or attention issues or learning issues that got in the way. No vision issues, or issues with auditory process, it was just... easy.
Things changed almost three years ago when we adopted our daughter back in 2016. While our kids with Down syndrome had learned to sit down and were able to focus on their work, our newest had zero concept of being calm and working. She has struggled with focus and because of this have distracted our kids who were once very easy to work with.
Our daughter, now 7, has Speech Delays, FASD and ADHD (though her ADHD is pretty mild and does not require anything more than reminders and redirection) has grown by leaps and bounds from where she use to be. She is still has delays but she is learning and growing and is able to work with the other kids without any issues.
I have had to relearn how to teach the kids because what worked for our four kids with Down syndrome has not worked for our child with FASD/ADHD.
We are all learning and growing.
I had to take a step back, find school work that was fun and exciting, add in more learning games and wait. It was HARD. I have always been pretty driven when it comes to teaching however taking a step back has been SO good for us. Our kids are actively asking to do school work. We have decided mornings are NOT what works for our family. We tried but have found the best time for us to do school work is after the kids have had a morning of fun and playing and being outside and riding bikes and jumping on the trampoline and things like that. We found that the best time for us to get started is around 2pm and work until dinner time. (around 6pm). It also works best because then my husband is home from work and can help out with keeping some kids busy if I need to work 1:1 with some of the kids.
We are learning every day, not just the kids but me. I am learning new ways to teach and what works best with our kids. I love watching them grow and learn. Sometimes I will teach them something and I hope they have it, but it isnt until we are in that moment when we are somewhere else and they look up and say something like, "That is King Tut!!! We learned about him when we were learning about Africa!!" or when they randomly write a word that I didnt know they could spell, or when they are building with blocks and one suddenly says, "This is a doctor's office, they do blood draws." and I say, "Do you know who does blood draws?" and they reply, "A phlebotomist." and it is all I can do not to fall over with shock and surprise, sometimes the kids really surprise me in all that they are learning. I could not be more proud of them!

Harvesting potatoes

first time doing word searches

cutting practice

Math worksheet - Rod and Staff

Draw Write Now Handwriting Program

Our 18 year old daughter was adopted at the age of 13. She came to us speaking another language and only knowing a little bit of English. ASL has been really easy for her but formulating sentences has been harder because she mixes up the order of how we say things in English. She has been working with this book called “Write a Super Sentence” from Evan-Moor, and she is loving it!!

Our daughter struggles with vision beyond what glasses can fix. We do vision therapy exercises to help. She was so proud of herself for being able to do this word search!

Draw Write Now program! Look at those bunnies she drew!!

Holiday Crafts

Our daughter Ellie came home from Latvia at the age of 13. She had never been to school before, could not read, write, or even talk. She had no idea what a fork or knife was or how to use one. She has come SO far!! She wrote this from her Draw Write Now handwriting program!!